It has been rumored that the great Egyptian Pyramids that are considered a wonder of the world were built by slave labor. It has also been mentioned that some of the great Roman and Greek monuments and buildings were built using slave labor. Warships from another time were manned by “galley slaves.” Transportation for ancient Royalty was provided by slaves. Besides elephants what kind of labor pool did Hannibal use to build the alpine roads? Most, but not all slaves, from this time in history were captured in battle or taken from their homes in raids and most were literally worked to death.
Under the Union Jack over a million Irish people were taken from their homes because the rulers of England declared that the Irish could not own property and that the Irish would be immediately killed if caught practicing their form of religion, speaking their native language or playing their musical instruments. In some cases Irish that once owned their land were forced into slave labor for the English landlord who stole the land from them. Displaced Irish families were left to die of starvation.
Over 6.25 million, yes I write, million Jews died in concentration camps under the then flag of Nazi Germany. Many of the concentration camp prisoners were allowed to die after they could no longer perform slave labor. Were these concentrations camps destroyed as a symbol of hate? No, seven concentration camps of the Holocaust have been preserved and stand as a memorial and a symbol so that type of atrocity be never again.
The flag that represents the United States of America that flies proudly in every courthouse in this great country was the flag seen by Mexican men, women and children before being taken into the street and fields and murdered by U.S. soldiers during the American/Mexican war.
As for hate, under the Red, White and Blue stars and stripes U.S. soldiers tracked down and murdered countless numbers of American Indians/Native Americans in the U.S. government ethnic cleansing. We can now watch reruns of movies made to glorify the slaughter. When it was no longer deemed necessary to kill the “red devils” as Hollywood named them, under the U.S. of A. flag they were removed from their lands and placed were our government wanted them. Namely reservations.
Right across the beautiful Chesapeake Bay in southern Maryland over 30,000 Confederate prisoners of war were allowed to die of disease and starvation in Maryland’s own Camp Sumter/Andersonville. The last flag those dying men saw was the Red, White and Blue with stars and stripes.
Let’s not forget about the relatives of Japanese Americans that were removed from their homes and interned here in the United States, under the American flag, just because of their heritage.
How many of us may have wished to visit the great pyramids to admire their ageless wonder? How many of us drive cars produced in a country whose leader at the time once tried to exterminate an entire race? How many of us have relatives that came from an island that is now peacefully co-habited by both English and Irish? How many of us admire or even study the great structures in ancient Rome or Greece? How many have visited or wish to visit the land of our ancestors to learn about our history and appreciate the contributions made to our society, in some cases by struggle? How many have married into families that were once enemies of our ancestors? How many of us had relatives that were in Gettysburg in 1913 and witnessed the burying of the hatchet? How many Native Americans now fly the American Flag? How many of us are from rich histories that include man’s great atrocities to man?
I don’t know the answer to any of these questions. I’m no expert yet I know that I will receive many corrections by those that just like to be right about everything.
Thinking of the Gettysburg address that was once taught in elementary school when Lincoln made his walk on speech nowhere did he write that the battlefield should be dedicated to just one side of the battle. Fancy this, not one mention of Union or Confederate. And, as history has it, the night before the dedication President Lincoln asked a sidewalk band to play “Dixie.”
What I do know is that if we took half the time we use to perpetuate hate and diversity and put it into trying to teach peace and understanding we could go a long way in ending discord here in our Talbot County. If we took time to look out for our neighbor or take a kid on a picnic or better yet pray for peace whom would it hurt?
Everyone whose name appears on a piece of inanimate material as a memorial marker was once someone’s husband, wife, son, daughter, grandfather or grandmother or some other loved relative. They deserve to rest in peace.
If we tried to listen rather then wanting to hear ourselves expressing our anger towards a piece of rock we could all work together to have what our forefathers penned as One nation, Under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. The two words Under God were not in the original but added later when wise people figured out we need help.
Michael Feehley
Easton
RoseSigman says
Right on Mike!
Michael Davis says
So much is wrong here, it is difficult to know where to start. To say the Talbot Boys statue is comparable to the preservation of the concentration camps is beyond the pale. The concentration camps are preserved to show the horror of racism. The Talbot Boys statue is to honor racism. As symbols, they are the opposite of each other.
Many times here commentators have shown the error of putting forth the idea that the reunion at Gettysburg represented national unity. It was an ALL WHITE event during Jim Crown days. Lynchings of Black people did not stop after that big celebration. Can we finally put that to bed as an example of a healing event?
Yes, America has done some awful things. Many we admit to. I don’t think any ethical American would support putting up a monument to the men who made “Little Boy” showing them carrying the American flag at the Hiroshima bomb site. The Japanese may find it offensive. Duh?
The Confederate Flag proudly displayed with the Talbot Boys is offensive to anyone with a moral compass. Citing the Pledge of Alliance does not paper over that fact.
It seems that every jurisdiction in Maryland understands the hate represented with Confederate Monuments. They have been moved. It is about time Talbot does the same.
Paul Callahan says
Mike, To state that the Talbot Boys is to honor racism is flatly false. It has been researched in detail and it simply is a memorial to our Talbot ancestors.
To state that the Gettysburg reunion was an “all white” event is equally false. There is no evidence that blacks were excluded.
Well over 100,000 citizens and veterans participated in the Gettysburg reunion. It was an event to celebrate not just the historic event, but of reconciliation and a commitment to move upward an onward to build a better Nation – which they did.
The continuation of this narrative of “hate” by twisting and revising our history serves no beneficial purpose for any member of our community.
Sharron Cassavant says
Let us follow Lincoln’s example and cultivate Malice Toward None and Justice for All. Lincolrn’s compassion and wisdom, schooled by the his intelligence and personal experience of sorrow, still sets a moral standard for all Americans.
No human being lives who has not suffered some injustice. No human beings lives who has always been right and always acted morally.
Anne Stalfort says
I agree with Michael Davis.
Bill Hatch says
Thanks Michael, In the Civil War the Eastern Shore was a house divided. A great war story is when the 1st Maryland, Confederate fought the 1st Maryland, Union in the Valley Campaign.
Kent County Md has an interesting Civil War monument in Chestertown. On one side of the granite block are the names of the Kent County men who died fighting in the Union Army. One the other side are the men who died for the Confederacy.
Carol Voyles says
This is possibly the best argument yet for keeping the Talbot Boys statue, but despite our nation’s imperfections, we are pledging loyalty to our flag and the best that it represents.
Memorials on our courthouse grounds send a celebratory message, and singularly treasonous behaviors should be commemorated in a more appropriate manner.
Cynthia Pyron says
Recently I walked up to the Talbot Boys and took a long close look. I could hardly tell what flag he was holding. As I read the list of those lost in the war, I recognized familiar names of families and businesses that still exist today. Those relatives grieved then and in their sorrow, built this little monument and engraved the names of their love ones, gone forever. There is nothing blatant political about this quaint small memorial, just the word confederate. What was impressive were the names. If I too carried forward one of those names, I’d take my child to touch their great, great, great uncle’s name and say how sad his mother was to have lost him. To move this is to disrespect the sorrow that was felt long ago.
John Griep says
The statue lists the names of those men from Talbot County who served in the Confederacy, not just the names of those who died. It was not built immediately after the war as a memorial to the dead by grieving family members.
Paul Callahan says
John, It was planned for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. The committee to construct the Talbot Boys was established 6 days after returning from the Gettysburg reunion.
The monument’s theme was inspired by the theme of the Gettysburg reunion – to move upward and onward to build a better Nation. They also planned to have a monument to the Union men from Talbot and the position of the Talbot Boys flag is to give respect to both the US flag and to the Union monument.
Many family members of these men contributed.
John Griep says
My point was that it was not built as a memorial to the war dead, as the commenter to whom I replied and others mistakenly believe. So I guess your response is agreeing with me on that point?
Paul Callahan says
I would agree with that…. but the reality is when the monument was built most had already passed. I think 17 were still alive but don’t hold to that exact number. They also had an active part in deciding on both the “theme” of the monument and the military correctness of the flag’s positioning.
The additional reality is at the end of the civil war, sentiments were still strong and our economy severely depressed. The priority was putting food on the table to feed their families with little left for much else and certainly not monument building.